Rafa floated.
Not up.
Not down.
Not in any direction the human mind could name.
He simply… drifted.
The darkness around him wasn't just the absence of light—it was thick, almost living, pressing against his skin like cold smoke. He couldn't see his arms. He couldn't see his own body. For all he knew, he no longer had one.
There was no sound.
No wind.
No breath.
Only a silence so deep it felt like a weight on his chest.
Time did not move here.
Or if it did, it moved without him.
Sometimes—rarely—he thought he heard murmurs in the distance. Not voices calling his name, not words with meaning, just shapes of sound, like old memories dissolving before they reached him. They brushed against the edges of his awareness and faded instantly.
He did not fear them.
He did not follow them.
He did not care.
Rafa's heartbeat—if it still existed—was too slow to notice. His thoughts drifted like dust in still air. He couldn't remember how long he had been here. Hours? Days? Years?
Maybe this place was not a place at all.
Maybe it was simply what remained when everything else was taken away.
He tried moving once—lifting an arm, opening his eyes—but the void swallowed the action. Nothing changed.
Here, effort meant nothing.
Will meant nothing.
Even existence felt optional.
Rafa floated.
Silent.
Weightless.
Unanchored.
In a void so absolute it felt like the universe had forgotten him.
Angeline Michael
My name is Angeline Michael, the third child of Duke Elias Michael…
But only in blood.
My mother is the duke's mistress— a commoner.
Which makes me the thing nobles hate the most:
A bastard.
Despised.
Mocked.
Barely tolerated.
Even here, at Alentian Academy, one of the three greatest academies in the kingdom, I carry the stain of my birth like a brand.
I am a magician…
Barely.
D-rank.
Summoning magic— the most unreliable of all.
And today…
Today is the day D class summons their lifelong familiars.
---
Class C Students (sneering from above)
"Look, it's the freaking losers' class!"
"Oi, D-class, hurry up and start already!"
---
Angeline
(whispers desperately)
"Oh great one… please bless me with the strongest familiar… Anyone… please…"
Silence.
Not even a spark.
---
Juliet Michael
Her older half-sister steps forward, lips curled cruelly.
"Pathetic. Look at her disgrace our family's name.
She should've stayed a bitch like her mother."
Laughter explodes across both classes.
Angeline trembles, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
---
Angeline (breaking)
"Please… anybody…
I-It's lonely here…
Please… come to me…"
---
MEANWHILE — THE VOID
Rafa
"I don't know… how long I've drifted here."
Nothing.
No light, no sound, no body.
Just endless, suffocating darkness.
Then—
A voice.
A small, broken voice, reaching across dimensions:
"Please anybody out there… It's lonely… come to me…"
Something inside him responded— something ancient and instinctive.
A call.
A desperate plea.
A contract.
---
BACK IN THE SUMMONING HALL
The floor trembles.
Wind surges.
Students scream and stumble.
---
Professor Gideon
"Poor child… not everyone can—"
His sentence dies as Angeline's eyes burst into blue light.
---
Angeline (possessed, commanding)
"I summon thee…
Warrior who ruled all…
Appear for my bidding…
In exchange for my body and soul."
---
THE WORLD SHATTERS
A deafening thunderclap splits the air.
Blue fire erupts— mixed with shards of ice so cold they burn.
Lightning spirals upward, tearing through the academy ceiling.
Through the roaring vortex, a figure steps out—
Tall.
Bleeding.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
A warrior carved from flame and frost.
Rafa.
---
Rafa
"I accept this contract."
He moves faster than anyone can process—
His arms sweep around Angeline's waist, pulling her against him.
His lips meet hers.
A kiss.
Deep. Claiming. Binding.
Blue fire erupts around them as the contract seals.
---
Angeline (mind exploding)
"He… he grabbed me—
He kissed me—
W-wait… that was my first kiss—?!
Why is it… good—??
BUT WAIT— DID I OFFER HIM MY BODY AND SOUL—?!"
Her face turns bright red.
Then she sees it—
Blood running down Rafa's chest.
His breathing ragged.
Wounds carved deep into his skin.
---
Angeline (panicking)
"H-He's injured!
Somebody help!
Please—he's bleeding!"
THE WINGS OF THE MUTATED ANGEL
The air still crackled with blue flame when Rafa's body arched as if struck by invisible chains.
A sound—half roar, half divine chorus—burst from his chest.
Then—
FWOOM—!
Two wings exploded from Rafa's back.
But not the wings anyone knew.
One wing was pure white, feathers glowing with a holy brilliance that forced many to shield their eyes.
The other—
A black wing, vast and shadowy, its feathers absorbing light, dripping an aura colder than night itself.
Divine.
Profane.
Heaven and Abyss… bound in one body.
A living contradiction.
A mutated Seraphim.
---
Students (staggering back, terrified)
"T-Those are angelic wings!"
"No—look! One is darkness—!"
"What kind of summon is he?!"
"A-A mutation… that's impossible…"
"Mutated… summoning doesn't mutate!!"
---
Professor Gideon
He falls to his knees.
"By the Seven Towers…
An angel… no—something beyond angelic order…"
His voice shakes.
"No record… no archive… no text has ever described—this."
---
Juliet Michael (screaming, furious, afraid)
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!
A bastard like her cannot—
She cannot summon something superior to the noble families!!"
But even she backs up, trembling hard.
---
RAFA OPENS HIS EYES
The glow fades.
The storm calms.
The dust settles.
Rafa stands tall, wings unfurled, one bathing the room in holy radiance…
The other drowning it in shadow.
His wounds slowly knit shut as the two opposite forces inside him pulse.
He looks at Angeline—
Eyes like molten gold and abyssal violet swirling together.
Then—
Rafa (calm, voice echoing)
"I have answered your call."
His white wing lifts slightly.
A warmth spreads across Angeline's body— gentle, healing, soft.
His black wing stretches— radiating cold and lethal force.
The class gasps.
---
ANGELINE
Her heart races.
"He… he really came for me…
He accepted the contract…
He—chose me…"
She bites her lip.
But the next thought terrifies her:
I offered him my body and soul… oh gods…
---
RAFA TO PROFESSOR GIDEON
He turns his head slowly.
Power ripples through the room.
"Is this the world that called me?"
His voice carries divine authority and demonic undertones.
Gideon can barely speak.
He bows his head instinctively.
"Y-Yes… great one…"
---
Rafa (softly)
"Then I shall remain…
Until she releases me."
He gently touches Angeline's cheek.
Her knees almost give out.